LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 07: Michail Antonio of West Ham United battles for possession with Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on March 07, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 07: Michail Antonio of West Ham United battles for possession with Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on March 07, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Arsenal Match Reports

Arsenal Vs West Ham United: 5 things we learned – Champions League hopes alive

by Andrew Dowdeswell
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 07: Michail Antonio of West Ham United battles for possession with Sokratis Papastathopoulos of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on March 07, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

3. Defending still a major issue

When Mikel Arteta arrived at Arsenal, one of the first positive impacts he enacted in the team was a greater defensive solidity, structure and efficacy. From the improved intensity and organisation of the pressing to the higher defensive line, Arteta went about fixing many of Arsenal’s long-lasting defensive vulnerabilities.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

But while the initial bump was indeed a positive one, since then, those same old defensive shortcomings have come back to bite. And on Saturday, the Gunners looked far from comfortable when trying to deal with a West Ham United side that is above the relegation zone on goal difference alone.

Michail Antonio was a particular issue. His pace and physicality on the counter-attack caused Pablo Mari especially all sorts of problems. Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka played several misplaced passes in midfield to put their team in a vulnerable position in transition, while Eddie Nketiah’s hold-up play was poor and the high-press lost that same intensity of previous performances. All these issues contributed to West Ham’s offensive threat.

And then you add in the increasingly hapless set-piece defending, with zonal marking that lacks individuals to attack the ball or blockers to prevent opposing players running onto the ball and clear communication and organisation to ensure that every threat is accounted for, and it is easy to see why this current Arsenal team are struggling defensively.

Next: 2. The Lacazette effect

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